Amos’ Last Judgment

22Dec

Today, it’s one last look at Amos’ pronounced judgment on Israel … tomorrow, we get three days of grace before Christmas!

Amos 9:1-8a

“I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said ‘Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people;and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape.”

Get the picture? God is standing in the worship center, where the syncretistic, back-slidden worship has been taking place. As we have learned throughout this book, God hates it. He in essence says, “bring it down.” Those who don’t die from the building’s collapse will be slain by the sword. Such was the flood in Genesis 7. Such will be the retribution experienced by unbelievers at Jesus’ return. So sad that these think they believe – they’re actually “at church” when their destruction comes. A specter of the future?

“If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them.

If they climb up to heaven,from there I will bring them down.If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them;If they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.If they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them. I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”

Hell, heaven, mountain top, sea bottom, in a far-off nation … there’s no getting away from God’s will. (See Romans 8:35-39 for the flip side of this story. God has His eyes fixed on you … one way or another.)

“The Lord God of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt; who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—the Lord is his name.”

When John the Baptist wanted to know if Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus said, “tell John what you hear and see” (Matt. 11:4). God the Father? Same. Just look at the power of creation – “That’s Me”, says the LORD.

“Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?” declares the Lord. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground.”

All this is happening to “God’s chosen”. They think they’re special, and that God could never bring judgment like this upon them. But God reminds them of the gospel truth: All the nations have always been in the hand of God. Israel is certainly no better – they just have a different purpose, and enhanced expectations. Unforgiven sin is unforgiven sin, no matter who commits it. Without repentance, and the shedding of blood, there is no salvation.

No question Amos was an unpopular preacher. He and his message were, like so many prophets before him, rejected. “We’ll roll the dice, and hope that he’s wrong. Our worship, and the way we spend our money … it can’t be that bad, can it?”

Yes, God came. Israel vanished for two millennia. He’s coming again, soon, and promises judgment on sin. And grace to those who believe, and are born of the Spirit (we’ll get to that tomorrow!) Are you ready?